Union’s daily Happy Hour is one of the happiest deals in town, for sure. Available from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and from 10:00 p.m. to midnight (with drink specials until closing time), the restaurant at the corner of First Avenue and Union Street offers some real deals.

Deviled eggs. For many of us they conjure up memories of childhood, when the rich, eggy spheres were nothing more than smashed yolks, gobs of mayo, and perhaps a dice of bread-and-butter or dill pickle for crunch.

Modern-day deviled eggs take many forms, and one of the best in Seattle is at (perhaps surprisingly) Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar, with locations in downtown Seattle and Bellevue.

Here’s an almost celestial photo of the bouncing beauties, whose slightly spicy filling was as smooth as glass and as addictive as opium. As you might expect of a restaurant that specializes in seafood, the eggs come topped with your choice of Truffled Ahi Tartare or Citrus Salmon Gravlax.

On a busy Saturday evening, we made our way through bustling Belltown for our dinner reservation at Tavolàta, chef/owner Ethan Stowell’s Italian restaurant along Second Avenue.

We were starving, so quickly ordered the Grilled Octopus with Spring Onion, Lemon, Anchovy, and Capers. The octopus arrived in all its glory, its tentacles artfully twirled, its texture perfectly tender and pleasantly chewy. A squirt or two of fresh lemon juice really brought out its sweet/salty flavor.

Campanelle with Mediterranean Mussels, Asparagus, Basil Pesto, and Preserved Lemon was rich, creamy, and toothsome, not to mention such a generous portion we took more than half home to enjoy another night.

When you eat out as much as Spencer and I do, you start to order certain menu items (think roasted chicken, seafood pasta, main-dish Caesar salads) that are standards on many restaurant menus.

Of late, Whole Grilled or Roasted Fish has become one of these standards. We’ve raved about the whole Idaho trout offerings at Steelhead Diner in the Pike Place Market and Palace Kitchen. Branzino restaurant has a whole preparation of its namesake fish. And the Pink Door does a nice job with whole branzino as well.

Last month, during our time in our second port of call in Alaska, Juneau, we enjoyed touring Macauley Salmon Hatchery, Mendenhall Glacier, and Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure. The tours lasted until almost 2 p.m., so by the time we got off the bus, we were ready to eat!

Chris, our tour guide, suggested we try The Hangar on The Wharf, and it proved to be a good tip. The place is aptly named, for spry sea planes practically taxi into the restaurant’s big picture windows while float plane models dangle above your head.

Here’s a coupla sentences about the resto’s history, from their Web site:

“The Hangar on the Wharf is located in Juneau’s historic Merchants Wharf Mall which used to be the home of Alaska Coastal Airlines in the 1940’s. The seaplane hangar is a landmark in aviation history. Famous pilots such as Will Rogers used to land their aircraft in front of the Hangar during their great northern expeditions as the museum of enlarged historic photos at the restaurant show.”

We both bolted down a huge Halibut Burger and massive side salad for me; Spencer opted for a side of Hangar Fries.

Mendenhall Margaritas made a good match for food and scenery. . .they have a slightly blue tinge. Apt, since, of course, they’re named for the nearby Mendenhall Glacier.

My latest post for Amazon.com’s Al Dente blog went up earlier today, and it’s a fun one. In it I share Kay Simon’s recipe for Cherries in Red Wine (think fresh Washington cherries marinated in Merlot and preserved for the winter months!) along with suggestions for pairing with Ruby Port–two from Washington state and one from Portugal. Kay’s the talented winemaker and co-owner, along with her husband Clay, at Chinook Wines in the Yakima Valley.

During an action-packed 24 hours in Anchorage last month, we enjoyed Monday brunch at the world-renowned Snow City. It’s a hippy-dippy sort of place with laid-back servers, lots of glass that lets in plenty of natural light, and mostly organic/local/sustainable items on the menu.

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon seemed like a really authentic dish–carefully scrambled eggs with a generous slab of hard-smoked (and rather dry) salmon.

The Crab Omelet (the resto’s bestseller) was ethereal. . .mounds of light, luscious snow crab meat encased in a well-crafted layer of eggs. And look at the size of those slabs of toast!

A generous plate of fresh fruit (one of many options for roasted potatoes) was a healthy and palate-cleansing way to top off bottomless miss-matched mugs of coffee. Spencer’s was emblazoned with the words, “Anchorage Running Club.”

While on an excursion in Juneau last month, we visited the Mendenhall Glacier, which rears its sparkling face just a short ride outside of downtown.

As gorgeous as the glacier was, I could hardly take my eyes off the Tongass National Forest Steep Creek Fish Cam, where you can watch a live feed of salmon (pinks and sockeyes the day we visited) making their way through Steep Creek from July through November.

You know I’m a big fan of Web cams. . .click here to view my very own Puget Sound Cam.

After Maria Hines’ spring-time win as Best Chef of the Pacific Northwest (the mighty mantel bestowed by the James Beard Foundation), not to mention a lovely article about her (written by my friend, colleague, and fellow regular contributor to The Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine, Greg Atkinson), we were eager to make a return visit to Tilth, the vibrant green bungalow along 45th Street in the Wallingford neighborhood a few miles from downtown Seattle to see what the talented chef has been up to lately.

Sadly, Maria wasn’t in the house that evening, but her sous chef and staff are keeping things in good order even during her nights away.

It was a cool Sunday evening, so cool that we, along with several other outdoor diners, went back to our car for the emergency wind breakers and pullovers we keep in the trunk for just such an occurrence.

The meal started with yeasty, baby-bottom-soft bread and housemade butter.

The Tomato Salad with Arugula and Fresh Figs–a special of the day–was a delightful interplay of colors, textures, and flavors. The pretty purple chive blossoms sprinkled from on high added both visual and gustatory top notes.

Because I’m working on an article on black cod, a.k.a. sablefish, for Pacific Northwest magazine, I was most interested in ordering the Sous Vide Sablefish that came with sea beans, wild watercress, and truffled potato purée. It was a well-crafted dish with a sassy swipe of herb-rich pesto along one side.

Spencer ordered the large portion of Pan-Roasted Chicken, which partnered with baby red-potato salad, asparagus, and bread jus.

After such soul-satisfying food, along with a bottle of the ever-appealing Domaine Drouhin Oregon 2007 “Arthur” Chardonnay (named for winemaker Veronique Drouhin’s son), the air suddenly didn’t seem nearly as chill as when we first sat down.

In fact, we crossed the street and got in a lengthy line at Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, a Walllingford institution that (somehow) we’d never enjoyed until that evening. Part of the anticipation at Molly’s is figuring out what intriguing flavor to order. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the front of the line, the Salted Caramel had been 86ed. Lavender Honey was perfume-y and sweet, with a rich depth of flavor, but we both opted for something a little less esoteric–Birthday Cake ice cream (!).

It makes my mouth happy to know that Molly Moon’s has just opened a second location on Capitol Hill. As for my waistline, not so much.